Fantastic Four #24: Flame On 60

Fantastic Four #24, page 22, panel 4

Lovingly written by Stan Lee

Tenderly drawn by Jack Kirby

Heroically inked by George Roussos

Neatly lettered by Sam Rosen

22 pages, eh? Almost unheard of today, at least without adding another dollar to the cover price. This is one of the longest regular issue Fantastic Four stories, clocking in at an astonishing 23 pages. Our current issues (late 70s) are 20 pages each, and it won’t be long before we drop down to 19 pages, and have to deal with those awful half-pages thrown in to increase the amount of advertising that could be sold in the issue.

Here, the three members of the team in combat manage to break free of an airtight bubble that the Infant had entrapped them in. Johnny immediately ignites, having extinguished his flame to conserve the oxygen available to the heroes. Note once again, the catchphrase rendered as a sound effect, rather than a speech bubble.